Council adopts Affordable Housing Strategy

Council adopts Affordable Housing Strategy

Posted on 06/07/2017

Action plan aims to tackle major regional issue

On Monday night, the City Council unanimously adopted Bellevue’s Affordable Housing Strategy. The vote represents the culmination of more than a year of research, analysis, review and input from a variety of stakeholders including an appointed technical advisory group. Utilizing the five overarching strategies, the city will begin development of a work program for councilmembers to review later this summer.

“Creating an Affordable Housing Strategy has been a priority for the council, and I’m proud that we were able to deliver,” said Mayor John Stokes. “I look forward to working on the specific actions so Bellevue can remain accessible for residents and workers who have a wide range of jobs and incomes.”

Last April, the council adopted a slate of two-year priorities for 2016-17, one of which was to “develop an affordable housing plan for the needs of our diverse population.” The process included the formation of a 15-member Technical Advisory Group to help develop the strategy. Appointees were selected based on their backgrounds in housing, financing, development and affordable housing issues.

“Affordable housing is something we’re all connected to and it’s a major concern in the community,” said Councilmember Lynne Robinson, who served as a liaison for the project. “This is a strategy that was crafted to address Bellevue’s specific needs. The level of public participation and input was invaluable during this process.”

The strategy consists of five interrelated components, including:

Helping people stay in their affordable housing;

Creating a variety of housing choices;

Creating more affordable housing;

Unlocking housing supply by making it easier to build; and

Prioritizing state, county and local funding.

Within each strategy is a set of actions for future consideration. These will be integrated into the future work program during implementation.

The final report is available for the public to view online. Additional background on the project can also be found on the city website.